1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a physiological device particularly useful as a cardiovascular exerciser, as a substitute for an artificial kidney and as a means for improving the condition of various other tissues and organs. More particularly, the invention relates to such a device wherein elevated environmental temperature promotes profuse perspiration of a person seated or lying in a chamber, and wherein very low humidity air blown through the chamber causes rapid evaporation of the sweat. To remove the sweat from the body at very high sweating rates a variable speed fan is used with the speed adjusted to circulate the air in the chamber at a sufficiently high rate to remove the perspiration as rapidly as it is formed. This profuse sweating and rapid evaporation causes the heart to beat faster, thereby producing controlled cardiovascular conditioning. Since the sweat composition is approximately the same as that of blood plasma, a kidney function may be accomplished by exposing a person in the chamber to a sufficiently high temperature. Adjustments in diet can be made to produce a sweat excretion which will remove the waste products as effectively as the kidneys.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Improved cardiovascular conditioning is fundamental both to good health and to counteract the deterioration of the cardiovascular system resulting from the aging process.
To function properly, all human body cells must receive certain requisite inputs including nutrients, oxygen, neural signals and the like. In the presence of the correct input mix, the cells not only perform their specialized physiological functions, but also function to tear down and resynthesize themselves. That is, the body cells are actually replaced over a period of time as part of a "restructuring cycle". If the requisite inputs are not provided to the cells in proper quantity, or if harmful inputs such as pathogens, various drugs and chemicals, ultraviolet light, injuries, etc., are present, cellular function is impaired and the restructuring cycle may be adversely affected.
Health improvement requires both that the correct cellular inputs be present and that they be delivered efficiently to the cells, primarily by the cardiovascular system. Comprehensive arterial and venous blood anaylsis can be performed to ascertain the levels of requisite cellular inputs such as O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, NH.sub.3, urea, uric acid, the nine essential amino acids, the essential fatty acids, phospholipids, cholesterol, cholesterol esters, all of the vitamins, the thirteen or so essential cations, the half dozen anions, all of the hormones, the various messenger and recognition molecules, the osmotic pressure, the pH and ionic strength. Specific inadequacies can be determined, and where appropriate, these can be supplemented by dietary changes, vitamins and minerals, etc. Similarly, harmful inputs can be eliminated, as by dietary correction, environmental changes and so forth.
However, even with the correct input mix, optimal cellular functioning will not be achieved unless there is an adequate rate of delivery to the cells via the cardiovascular system. Not only does the cardiovascular system serve as a delivery and removal system for the cells, but it also provides heat exchange, water balance, self-protect and communications functions. The cells are in trouble if there is a poor rate of delivery because of lowered blood flow rates through the capillary bed. Good health requires an efficiently operating cardiovascular system.
The aging process probably is directly related to the restructuring cycle. Given the proper input mix and efficient delivery via the cardiovascular system, cellular restructuring should maintain the human body in good healthy condition indefinitely, without cellular deterioration. However, the aging process which appears at the onset of maturity probably undermines the restructuring cycle, so that cycle by cycle, the cell's components may become increasingly defective. It may be that after a genetically predetermined number of cycles, cellular function diminishes to a point where the restructuring cycle cannot be maintained and the cell dies. A person's potential life span thus may be genetically determined by the number of cellular cycles required to convert the healthy cells of early adulthood into deteriorated, inefficient cells. This could be the aging clock.
Superimposed on this type of gradual deterioration, are the effects of improper input mix and any harmful inputs that interfere with the restructuring cycle by damaging or destroying cellular components. If there has been no extensive damage to cell or tissue morphology, when harmful inputs are removed, the cells naturally tend to improve the condition of their components, restoring the level of cellular and tissue morphological and functional competence that is characteristic of the restructuring cycle status of the individual's physiological age. Thus when heavy smokers give up smoking, within a year, the lung tissues have largely overcome the detrimental effects of years of smoking. Similarly, the blood dyscrasias of the survivors of Hiroshima have almost all disappeared.
The effects of the aging process are accelerated by a degenerative feedback loop that increases the rate of cellular deterioration. With increasing age, the restructuring cycle is undermined and a certain portion of the body's cells become inefficient or die. For example, by age 70 the kidneys and liver may have lost 40 percent of their cells. As a result, the demand for nutrient delivery is reduced. Having to serve a smaller cellular mass, the cardiovascular system undergoes a gradual, compensatory hypotrophy which is superimposed on the aging induced cardiovascular deterioration.
Thus the feedback loop is:
a. less and poorer functioning body cells; PA1 b. lowered blood flow demand; PA1 c. cardiovascular cellular atrophy; PA1 d. lower cardiovascular output; PA1 e. further net cell loss and poorer body cells; and PA1 f. further decrement in cardiovascular condition. PA1 1. hot, low humidity air is blown over all of the body surfaces; alternatively the air may be both passed over and circulated rapidly over all the body surfaces; PA1 2. resultantly, an elevated temperature input is sensed by the heat sensors in the skin; PA1 3. hypothalamic stimulation is produced; causing PA1 4. increased rate of heart and arterial tree contraction and reduced arteriolar tension; with concomitant PA1 5. greater blood flow in the eccrine glands and in the bronchi and the alveoli of the lungs; PA1 6. profuse sweating occurs as well as increased expiration of water; PA1 7. rapid sweat evaporation takes place owing to the low humidity air being circulated; PA1 8. body heat is lost through skin cooling and the heat content of the expired moisture; which results in PA1 9. blood cooling; and PA1 10. maintenance of approximately normal body temperature.
This feedback gradually increases and in time reaches a point at which the body's cells rapidly begin to fail, resulting finally in a terminal condition.
In should be possible to break into this feedback loop and in many cases reverse the cardiovascular cellular hypotrophy by a program of gradually increasing demand on the cardiovascular system. Such increased demand over a period of time should improve the cardiovascular system, significantly increasing the rate of capillary blood flow, and reducing the resting pulse rate and blood pressure level. As a consequence of such improvement in the cardiovascular system, body cell morphology and function should be improved. Not only should this promote good health, but it should also result in a gradual improvement in many degenerative conditions in which rate of capillary blood flow is a significant factor. The restructuring cycle should be improved, with a probably reversal of net cellular loss, i.e., a gain in the cellular population of the liver, kidneys and other organs. A slowing of the deteriorative effects of the aging process may be achieved.
Certain of these benefits of improved cardiovascular conditioning have been recognized in the past. The widely used conditioning program known as "aerobics" accomplishes cardiovascular conditioning by a program of physical exercise primarily involving the lower limbs. A daily regimen of running-in-place, jogging or cycling places an increased demand on the heart and vascular system. The exercises are performed in a sufficiently rigorous manner so as to raise the pulse rate substantially. By placing this daily, short term high demand on the heart, researchers in exercise physiology have found that the performance of the cardiovascular system is significantly improved. Over a long term, the capillary blood flow rate is increased, the resting pulse rate is decreased, and the general condition of the cardiovascular system is improved.
Certain shortcomings are inherent in the use of physical exercise programs such as aerobics to achieve cardiovascular conditioning. The principal shortcoming is that toxic waste products formed by the exercised muscle cells are fed back into the bloodstream. These include lactic acid, ammonia, urea, creatinine and others. For a relatively young person, such waste products are easily removed. However, for persons over 40 or 50 years of age, the body may not be able to eliminate or cope with these waste products rapidly after the intense exercise period. Detrimental side effects may occur. Moreover, daily rigorous physical exercise is not possible for seriously disabled persons with many types of infirmities and for people of advanced age.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for conditioning the cardiovascular system without resort to muscular exercise. Another object is to provide a heart exerciser in which profuse sweating is used as the means for creating a gradually increasing demand on the cardiovascular system. Further objects include providing a heart exerciser wherein (a) the user experiences no discomfort during the heart exercise period; (b) the user may sit or recline in a chamber during the cardiovascular conditioning program; (c) the amount of pulse rate elevation may be controlled to obtain gradually increasing cardiac demand; and (d) even persons with impaired physical health may obtain improved cardiovascular conditioning without any physical exertion. Use of the inventive cardiovascular conditioning system should lead to improved cell nutrient input delivery, with a concomitant interruption of the cellular deterioration feedback loop.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device wherein profuse sweating accompanied by rapid evaporation of the perspiration is used for beneficial physiological effects. Such effects include, but are not limited to the heart exercise functions described above. Another use of the device is as a substitute for the artificial kidney. This function is achieved since the composition of sweat is quite similar to blood plasma. Both contain urea, uric acid, creatinine and minerals such as sodium, calcium, phosphate and iodine. The sweat glands function as secondary excretory organs. By remaining in the device chamber for say 2 hours each morning and 2 hours each afternoon or evening, conditions can be established in the inventive system to produce the elimination of 10 liters or more of sweat. The total amount of sweat lost is readily determined because the water from the evaporated sweat is recovered in a water condensation and collection system. By collecting a portion of the sweat in a bed pan, the precise mineral and vitamin composition can be determined. To prevent any depletion of these substances in the blood the patient, while in the chamber, takes at intervals enough capsules which contain these substances to replace the anticipated losses in the perspiration. He also drinks at intervals enough fluid to replace his water loss. Thus, in spite of the large mineral and water losses during his stay in the chamber, his body remains in water and mineral balance. Like the kidneys, the sweat glands do not excrete appreciable amounts of the vital nutrients, glucose and the amino acids, nor do they excrete any of the plasma proteins. Compensation for variations in the excretion of any of the minerals is made by adjusting the mineral composition of the capsules. Particularly when combined with a low protein diet to minimize urea production, this is sufficient to rid the body of those daily waste products which in a healthy person would be eliminated by the properly functioning kidneys.
Use of the present invention as a kidney substitute is particularly advantageous since it is quite comfortable to the user. It requires no invasion of the blood vessels as is required by kidney dialysis machines and need not interfere with a person's normal routine of living. The person merely sits in a chamber. Although sweating profusely as a result of elevated environmental temperature, the perspiration is very rapidly evaporated, so that the user feels no discomfort. He can read, watch television, converse or otherwise occupy himself.
The present invention also may be useful in the treatment of gout, and for drug and alcohol detoxification since uric acid and ingested drugs and alcohol are also eliminated by the eccrine sweat glands. Beneficial effects to the skin and lungs are anticipated because of the high blood circulation through these tissues during the use of the inventive system.